


Epistemology

by Haya_dono



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-28 01:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15696957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haya_dono/pseuds/Haya_dono
Summary: Epistemologyn. The study of knowledge.King of Cups.Minor Arcana card representing emotional balance and control, generosity.





	Epistemology

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to polyphenols for helping me when I was writing this piece as well as beta-reading it.

The tense atmosphere of the village, its habitants hidden behind windows, is broken for a fraction of second as large deformed figures walk hurriedly towards the port. At first glance, it looks like some of the bandits have come back to take what little is left, or worse, they have brought monsters to finish them off, and everyone tensing up and fearing the worst. However, when they look again, they sigh in relief, coupled with nervous laughter as they see Djeeta’s entourage instead. It isn’t the captain of the crew that has decided to help them the cause of the awkward moment that allows everyone to breathe safely. It is how everyone, Djeeta included, are carrying many scrolls and books, all taken from the library while a man is leading them, holding as much scrolls as Djeeta, Vyrn and Lyria are holding, while carrying a book on the other hand.

Some of the curious kids ask their parents why the man isn’t falling to the floor when in that moment Altair trips with the uneven rocks of the road, only to stop for a moment to check that he hasn’t dropped things.

“Hey, Specs,” Vyrn asks, having to avoid one of the larger scrolls hitting him in the face. “Maybe you should stop reading and look at the road?”

But Altair is mumbling things to himself, and the little dragon sighs.

“Well, he has been avoiding most of the rocks, so I guess it’s fine? We’ll be soon at the Grandcypher,” Lyria replies with nervous laughter, not that her comment went noticed by Altair.

When they arrive, Altair goes straight to his room and doesn’t leave it for the rest of the night.

 

* * *

 

 The only companions of Altair are the quiet flicker of the candle lighting his room and the sound of the pen over paper. The books are split into several piles, those which he has read and those which remain to be read. Most are thin and contain various topics, the records of the land, the creatures inhabiting the nearby areas, and others detailing the things like the profession of everyone who lives there and different statistics. They all frame Altair and the papers scattered on his desk, so many that they give the impression of an antique tablecloth.

“Altair?” A female voice asks, muffled by the wooden door, though Altair is too busy to pay attention. He doesn’t flinch when the door opens and only blinks when the floor creaks, Djeeta trying her best to not make a lot of noise. His eyes meet hers; the questioning look in her eyes is enough to let him know the time of the day and he looks through his window to confirm his suspicions, only to be greeted by the infinite darkness of the midnight sky.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” She asks.

“It seems I have lost track of time, Djeeta,” he replies, though he makes no motion to put everything away and get some rest. “But I’m afraid I can’t stop here, even though the answer I want is within my grasp.” And with those words, his eyes go back to one of the open books.

“You don’t say…” she replies, not following but she doesn’t ask further either. Instead, she walks closer to his desk and looks curiously at the papers, ink showcasing the landmarks of the island, maps of the village covered in scribbles, some neat and others written in a hurry. She can’t make much of it, eyes going from the papers to Altair’s concentrated expression. Thinking the conversation is over, she sighs and walks towards the door, not wishing to distract him.

“What is the meaning of intellect?” Altair’s voice stops Djeeta, as the man lifts his eyes from the papers on the desk and poses on her. The sudden change takes Djeeta by surprise.

“It seems I have reached an impasse,” Altair adds, not really helping Djeeta. He stretches his neck, a popping sound follows.

“Well, huh… It’s the ability to reason, isn’t it? That you can analyze information or ideas?” Djeeta has to scratch her head, not sure if her reply is adequate.

Her fears are unfounded, though, as Altair looks at her with a satisfied look. “If that is the case, then we must ask what information is and what makes it different from knowledge.”

“Knowledge…?” Djeeta tilts her head, now being lost with the sudden philosophy discussion at midnight, though on second thought it is perhaps the night which makes one ponder about such things.

Altair pushes his glasses up, and surprising her, closes the book, not before leaving a bookmark. “Information and knowledge are two different things. Information is simply data about something. And knowledge does involve the acquisition of information of a specific subject.”

“That…makes sense…”

“Of course, knowing many things about different subjects is no easy feat, but that is not what I want.” Altair steps up, the sound of his bones popping startles Djeeta more, but it is merely the result of released tension. Altair isn’t unfazed and instead looks kindly at the books and the maps on his desk.

“My interest lies in pursuing knowledge.” His eyes don’t hide his excitement as he lays a hand on the cover of a large green book. “The world of the skies is full of books and knowledge to be acquired. But I don’t pursue those books just for the sake of them or to own them. You see, a book which has never been read is nothing more than a compilation of numbers and letters, mere data registered. It is when it is read and when the reader takes the message within them and applies it that it can become knowledge. That is why there is no useless book. Even a book about fairy tales has a message from the past, if one knows where to look. The message to carve and improve one’s life, one’s future.”

“Is this why you…”

Altair picks one of the thin books, the registers of the monsters which roam the island. He opens it and flips through some pages, stopping at the description of one of the inoffensive creatures and hands it to Djeeta.

“I am a strategist. My role is to provide you with the best course of action, so we can accomplish the goal to protect the village. If I don’t apply everything I know, then I won’t do justice to the books I have read!”

Suddenly, everything clicks and Djeeta’s face lightens up. “So, knowledge is applied information. The things you’ve learned that you can use to help others.”

“Heh, you make it sound a great deal.”

Djeeta stares at the maps and the books, and while she can’t read them well under the dim light, she can understand the intent behind every word. All the notes Altair has made to reach their goal, how they can protect the villagers from the bandits and monsters and how to teach them to protect themselves. And she comes to the quiet realization of how kind and generous Altair is, always working hard to help others, even if he doesn’t say it with words.

She looks up to him, finding him smiling softly.

“Haha, you’re smiling!”

“I did tell you I would try smiling more as one of my new year’s resolutions...” Altair stops for a moment, frowning in thought. His eyes flash as a new idea suddenly arrives, the final solution to his proposal to defend the village. Blinking rapidly, he sits in a flash and scribbles down each word, so fast so as not to let a single detail escape. However, he abruptly stops and looks at Djeeta once more. “Thank you, Djeeta. I was in need of an intellectually stimulating discussion and now my answer is clear. However, I don’t think I’ll be going to bed any time soon.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that,” she replies with a giggle. “I’ll get you something to drink then. Is coffee alright? Sandalphon taught me how to prepare a strong one.”

“Haha, I’ll take green tea instead. While coffee would help me stay awake for an hour or two thanks to caffeine, tea will help me stay focused much longer. Coffee has higher amounts of caffeine, so it is effective in increasing one’s alert state. However, it doesn’t last long and I cannot afford to doze off. Tea has a more sustained caffeine release, so I won’t have a caffeine crash.”

“Caffeine crash, huh? That would explain why Vyrn fell asleep a little after taking Sandalphon’s coffee, even if he put a lot of milk and sugar when Sandalphon wasn’t looking. Alright, I’ll bring you some, I’ll be back.”

As soon as Djeeta left the room, Altair picked up his pen and with quiet resolution, he went back to reading and writing, until the sun rose.

 

* * *

 

 In the following days, Altair instructed the villagers on where to build small fences and helped organize the newly-founded patrolling groups in charge of keeping monsters away. He also guided the crew to take care of the bandits, as they disbanded the group and dissuaded them from trying to attacking the villagers again. At night, he would tirelessly write down instructions for the chief to keep, foreseeing many scenarios which could happen and how the villagers would be able to react once the crew left.

And so, in thanks for the huge aid he had provided to the village, the chief had given Altair two of the books in their library of his choosing, to which he naturally accepted and devoured as soon as the crew had finished their job and had departed the island.

That same night, Djeeta found Altair’s light on again, and imagined he’d be busy reading his newest acquisition. Quietly, she opened the light, figuring she should ask if he’d like green tea again to accompany his book. But to her surprise, she found Altair slumped on his chair, book half-opened on his lap, on the verge of falling. His head hung, dark circles around his eyes, not reacting in the slightest when Djeeta took the book from his hand and closed it, using the bookmark she had seen a few days ago to mark where she assumed Altair had stopped reading.

“He’s done it again,” Djeeta mumbled to herself with a soft smile, covering him with a blanket before blowing off the candle and letting Altair get some well-earned rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> This piece was written for the Granblue Fantasy Tarot Project - Crosswinds. You can find more works, both written and art pieces, from the project if you visit their Twitter @gbf_tarot!
> 
> Thank you for letting me participate and write about one of my favorite characters!


End file.
